It seems Rockstar learned their lesson and is instead opting to use Yahoo! Games for the next trailer for Grand Theft Auto IV; Yahoo! Games has announced that they have been granted exclusive rights into the next trailer.
The last time Rockstar announced a trailer for GTAIV - which was the premiere trailer - they included a countdown clock. Bad idea. The second that clock hit Zero, the server went down due to the mass demand. The massive surge of visitors essentially caused Rockstar to suffer a DoS attack. This time, however, there is no countdown clock. The High Definition second trailer for GTAIV is expected to go live at 12 p.m. EST.
Yahoo! Games also promises a full week, beginning today, of exclusive GTAIV content leading up to the trailers debut. This will include screenshots and developer interviews.
The second trailer is titled “Second Trailer: Looking For That Special Someone”. Hopefully, Yahoo! won’t suffer the same fate as R* did upon the first trailer’s release.
Sony has clarified Kaz Hirai’s recent statements which promised 380 titles for the PlayStation 3 within Sony’s next fiscal year, endind March 2008.
According to an official for SCEA, Hirai was citing international figures and not those of just the US. The US will instead see a total of 145 confirmed games, consisting of approximately 40 titles for the PlayStation Network and about 145 or more boxed titles for retail.
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We’ve all seen them at some point. We’ve all probably been accused of it at some point. There is always that one guy in a game who is just a tad-bit too good. Well, Mr. Twitchy, Mr. Aim-bot, and Mr. Wall Hacks, Intel does not like you and plans to do something about it.
Intel showed off an example (Pictured right) of its new project which it terms as “anti-cheat technology” during Research@Intel Day down at Intel HQ. The idea being that Intel and the PC Gaming Industry could build Hardware technology that is integrated directly into gaming machines which could then detect common cheats including aimbots and wall hacks.
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After having the upcoming Manhunt 2 broken down and torn apart before their eyes this past week, Take Two has issued a statement regarding their position towards a possible release:
Take-Two Interactive Software has temporarily suspended plans to distribute Manhunt 2 for the Wii or PlayStation platforms while it reviews its options with regard to the recent decisions made by the BBFC and ESRB.
We continue to stand behind this extraordinary game. We believe in freedom of creative expression, as well as responsible marketing, both of which are essential to our business of making great entertainment.
Manhunt 2, which has already been banned in the UK, Ireland, potentially Austrailia, and effectively in the United States, could be finding itself banned in Italy soon.
The Age is reporting that Italian Communications Minister Paolo Gentiloni (Pictured Right) has made statements that he will move to ban the game in Italy.
In a statement, Paolo Gentiloni described Manhunt 2 as:
“cruel and sadistic, with a squalid environment and a continuous, insistent encouragement to violence and murder.”
At today’s annual shareholder’s meeting in Tokyo, Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer made the announcemenet that 380 new games will be available for the PlayStation 3 over the course of this next business year. That’s 200 new games in retail stores and 180 available online between now and March 2008.
“Attractive game software is the key to accelerate PS3 growth over the next year,” Stringer stated.
Thanks to Reuters and Sony’s own Gamer Day, 2007, we’re already aware of about 150 of titles. An entry on Wikipedia list 232 titles. That makes about 300 new titles to be announced over the next few months. It’s gonna be a busy summer and one hell of an E3…
Manhunt 2 is practically homeless right now. That would be due to Sony and Nintendo’s licensing policies restricting the allowance of games rated as Adults Only. Such leaves Take Two Interactive with very limited options.
Take Two’s options are effectively as follows:
Appeal to the Entertainment Software Ratings Board
Of course this is always an option, but even if the rating did get managed to be cut down from Adults Only to Mature, that still leaves out the possibility of Sales within the UK and Ireland. However, it would lift the licensing restrictions imposed by Nintendo and Sony which are barring Take Two from releasing Manhunt 2 on those platforms.
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According to a report by the BBC, Take Two’s new Chairman, Struass Zelnick is giving Manhunt 2 his full support. He also believes that consumers should decide for themselves whether or not they wish to buy the game.
“The Rockstar team has come up with a game that fits squarely within the horror genre and was intended to do so…It brings a unique, formerly unheard of cinematic quality to interactive entertainment, and is also a fine piece of art.”
Manhunt 2 has been granted a preliminary rating of Adults Only in the US, effectively banning it. It has also received a complete ban in the UK, Ireland, and possibly Australia.
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Austrailian officials may soon be joining the UK and Ireland in their bans of Manhunt 2.
According to Smarthouse, an Austrailian publication, insiders at the Austrailian Federal Government’s Attorney General’s Department, the game has no chance of being released in Austrailia once British censors have banned it.
“We don’t want to preempt the decision of the Office of Film and Literature Classification Review Board but it is looking very doubtful” they said.The original Manhunt was released for Playstation 2 in Australia in 2003, receiving a MA15+ classification for “Medium-level animated violence”. It sold 18,000 copies on PS2 and Xbox.
Such a move would add Manhunt 2 to the growing list of games which have been banned recently in Austrailia, whose system is slightly unique. What Austrailia’s Office of Film and Literature Classification does is assign to games a rating on a scale of up to MA15+. Anything higher and they will “Refuse Classification”. Such games which have already made that list include Grand Theft Auto III, NARC, and Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Content’s Under Pressure.
The difficulty Take Two would have in finding a retailer to carry an Adults Only rated Manhunt 2 is problematic enough. However, they have one more problem: licensing.
Sony (PlayStation 2, PSP) and Nintendo (wii) both have policies which state they refuse to license games which are rated as Adults Only so they can be played on their respective hardwares. Nintendo’s own policy clearly states as follows:
“Please note that Nintendo does not sell or license games that carry the ESRB rating ‘AO’ (Adults Only).”
A spokesman for Nintendo followed up by issuing the following statement to GamePolitics:
The ESRB provides ratings to help consumers understand the content of a game before they purchase it. As stated on Nintendo.com, Nintendo does not allow any AO-rated content on its systems.
Alexander Sliwinski of Joystiq also received a response from Sony’s Dave Karraker who had the following to say:
Currently it’s SCE’s policy not to allow the playback of AO rated content on our systems.
For those of you who might be thinking, “Why not just port it to the Xbox 360?”, such would seem to be the solution, however, Microsoft has a similar policy so that would be a no-go.